These Notes Were Taken by a Student in Class, and Should Be Used for Reference Only

These notes were taken by a student in class, and should be used for reference only. Please check them against the audio for accuracy of content.

CLASS NOTES Course XIV: Lojong, Developing the Good Heart Class One: Eight Verses of Diamond Lion, Part One

LO JONG Means Developing the Good Heart

ꢀꢁꢂꢃꢁꢄꢅ

LO JONG

Mental Training, or Developing the Good Heart. Jong can mean “to

make pure,” as in jong-chub (Buddha); or to “practice something” like

mind training

football. Developing a good heart suggests a kind of radical behavior modification. It is meant to be used at work, with your family and in your life all day long. It is a major change in how you relate with other people, and it’s much more difficult than Buddhist logic and philosophy. It’s like a feeling of being in an airplane with others and the plane is going to crash and you all know that you’re in it together. The people all around us are suffering and dying. You’re going to lose everyone you love and everything you ever worked for. You have to jong this feeling – to practice or develop the feeling all daylong of loving other people around you who are dying and losing all the good things they have. Yet we waste our time struggling to get things we want for ourselves that we will lose anyway. There is no point to this selfish approach you have to life. You have to change your heart. Why not be good to each other? It takes a lot of practice.

LO JONG also Means Developing the Wish for Enlightenment

Êꢄꢂꢆꢂ ꢇꢈꢂꢉꢁꢂꢊꢋꢅ

Changkya Rinpoche (1642-1714) was part of the Changkya lineage of lamas who were teachers of the Chinese emperors. The correct peaceful connection between China and Tibet is the shared practice of Buddhism. He is a former life of Pabongka Rinpoche, but when Pabongka Rinpoche was teaching in Tibet (in the earlytwentieth century) he was not identified as the Changkya Rinpoche due to the dangerous relations with China. Changkya

^Rꢌⁱⁿꢋꢍ^pꢌôcꢂ^hÚêꢉ^dꢎêꢂ^fꢊⁱⁿꢋꢈêdꢂꢉ^{l o}ꢁꢂꢏ^{jo n}ꢄ^gꢂâsꢇꢂꢐ^thꢄêꢂꢉ^foꢂÚ^lloꢁꢂꢑ^wꢋꢂⁱꢌ^ngꢋꢄ^:ꢂꢒꢋꢌꢂ

SEMPA

bodhisattva

CHENPO LANGRI TANGPA DOR - JE SENG-GE

great

(from a region in Tibet) diamond

(king of stone) lion

ꢉꢓÚꢂꢉꢎꢇꢂꢔꢄꢂꢊꢕºꢂꢌꢋꢍꢌꢂꢃꢁꢄꢂꢒꢇꢂꢒÚꢍꢌꢂꢉꢂꢖꢗꢒꢌꢂºꢘÚꢂꢍ ꢂꢙꢒꢌꢂꢉꢅ

DZEPAY JANGCHUB SEM - JONG GI DAMPA TSIK-GYE MAR DRAKPA

he made Buddhahood wish training of religious verses eight fem. we call… instruction

1

CLASS NOTES Course XIV: Lojong, Developing the Good Heart Class One, continued

Diamond Lion from the Langri Tangpa region, who was a highlyrealized bodhisattva, made the Book In Eight Verses, the personal religious instruction on developing the wish to reach Buddhahood to help all beings.

The Eight Verses is a dampa, or religious instruction whispered from teacher to student in a very holy moment. At a certain spiritual level, everything you hear becomes a dampa. Training (Jong) means you have to work hard at it. Lo and sem both mean mind, thought, or wish, but Chankya Rinposhe calls the Eight Verses a sem-jong (rather than lojong) to indicate that the goal of Buddhism is to develop the ultimate form of compassion (jang chub ki sem, or bodhichitta). This is the attitude of feeling that we are all in the same sinking ship together. We are all dying and losing every good thing we want, so you must be sweet to others and tryto love them and help them. This is whywe call lojong developing the good heart. Lo is a code word for bodhichitta which is the wish to reach enlightenment so that you can help other people.

Úꢁꢂꢑꢋꢂꢌꢋꢄꢂꢒꢋꢌꢅ

DOR-JE SENG-GE

Diamond Lion (1054-1123), the author of one of the most famous lojong texts called the Eight Verses. He was one of the Kadampas, who were the first generation Buddhists in Tibet. Lojong texts

diamond

lion

were verypopular among the Kadampas. He is also called Geshe Langri Tangpa, after the plains of Langri, which is his native region. He was a sempa chenpo, a highlyrealized bodhisattva. He was one of the first geshes, which is spiritual friend.

ꢖꢗꢒꢌꢂºꢘÚꢂꢍꢅ

TSIK - GYE MA

Lojong in the Eight Verses

verses eight feminine

ꢀꢁꢂꢃꢁꢄꢂº ꢂ!ꢅ

LO JONG GYA - TSA

Compendium of Lojong texts, a collection of lojong

th

mind training 100 root text texts byMuchen Konchok Gyeltsen (14

century).

ꢍ"ꢌꢂꢊꢋꢈꢂÚ#ꢁꢈꢂꢍꢊꢁꢒꢂ $ꢂꢍꢖꢈꢅ

Diamond Lion Verse 1

Three ways to translate the first of the eight verses:

DAK NI SEMCHEN TAMCHE LA, YISHIN NORBU LE HLAKPAY

me

to all sentient beings

wishing jewel

more precious

2

CLASS NOTES Course XIV: Lojong, Developing the Good Heart Class One, continued

The people around you are more precious than a wishing jewel, a jewel that gives you anything you wish for. There are three different ways to read this verse.

1. You can't conceive of how nice it will be when you get to your tantric enlightenment. Even if someone were to explain it to you, you couldn't even be able to think of it. That's whytantra is secret; it's a self-protecting secret. You can't imagine the process or the steps of the process until it starts happening. We wouldn't even know what to wish for. In that sense, anything that would bring you to tantric enlightenment would be better than a wishgiving gem. The only thing that would bring you to that is your relationships with the people around you all the time. So theyare veryveryprecious.

DUN CHOK DUB PAY SAM PA YI, TAK TU CHI PAR DZIN PAR SHOK

They're going to get me to heaven, I love you, thank you, test me, make me learn to be kind. To attain an ultimate angel's body, you have to do it with other people. You need to be around difficult people, the people you see everydayat work, to be a real Buddhist.

2. The state of mind (bodhichitta, or ultimate compassion) that wants to reach the highest goal is more precious than a wish-giving gem.

3. Buddhahood itself is better than a wish-giving gem.

Wherever I am, whoever I'm with, may I see myself as lowest of all, and may I see others

as the best. This is not an exercise in low self-esteem. It doesn't mean you should see yourself as bad or incapable. It means that anyone could be an enlightened being; you don't know. According to the scriptures, there should be a few in everycrowd. It's no trouble for them to appear to you that way to help you. Among the people you see every day there are a few who are alreadyenlightened, and theyare trying veryhard to get you enlightened. Tryto listen to them, and understand what theyare trying to tell you.

Once in awhile you're going to get upset or have a bad thought in your mind. Stop it immediately. The minute you start to feel bad towards someone. Face it and admit it's your problem. Theyare suffering the same as you are, and according to the laws of karma, even one moment of slight irritation at someone has profound effects on your future.

Bad people are hard to find, so try to get the most out of it. According to Master

Shantideva, once you learn the secret of Buddhism, which is to stop reacting to them in a bad way, you stop the karma of meeting them again. The best way to get rid of people you don't like is to realize that you have made them that way, and to be kind to them.

3

CLASS NOTES Course XIV: Lojong, Developing the Good Heart Class Two: Eight Verses of Diamond Lion, Part Two

This teaching is verydifficult because your mind won’t want to accept it. It’s veryhard to live the waythese verses describe. You are cursed from now on because you’ll know the right wayto live but you won’t want to do it.

DAK LA SHEN GYI TRAKDOK GI

me to others byjealousy out of criticize

SHE KUR LA SOK MIRIKPAY

etc. untrue, undeserved

GYONGKA RANG-GI LENPA DANG GYELKA SHEN LA BULWAR SHOK

the loss byyourself take it and the profit others to offer it mayI

Other people, because they’re jealous, will say bad things to me out of jealousy, etc. May I take the loss myself and offer the profit to others with great love and respect.

You must analyze and figure out where the bad things in your life come from, such as a person who criticizes you unjustly. This is wisdom. You must distinguish between how someone is doing something bad to you, versus where they come from in the first place. You must go beyond knowing how it happens and figure out why it happens. For example, cancer comes from cells that divide uncontrollably, but why did you get the cancer? You will never reach paradise until you figure out why bad things happen to you. This is the real goal of Buddhism. For example, if we live in a world where we have to see people disrespecting and saying bad things about His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the reason why this is happening is that we haven’t been good enough to our Lama ourselves. If you don’t like people treating you poorly, then keep your vows perfectly, then you won’t have to see these

people anymore. This is the hardest teaching to follow.

Then, in any kind of controversy, competition, problem between two human beings, you decide to take the loss or disadvantage yourself, and give the advantage or gain to others. If you do this people will take advantage of you, but if there is someone in your life who would take advantage of you, the reason is that you have taken advantage of people in the past. The best wayto get rid of people who are exploiting you is to serve them, give them what they want, and take the loss yourself. As your bad karma wears out, people who would treat you badly will gradually disappear from your life. But you must keep your vows perfectly, and then everything you want will come. You don’t win by struggling against people. The approach you’ve taken so far hasn’t worked.

Bodhisattvas have sworn to serve other people and to offer them all of their happiness. This is the onlywayto be happyyourself. Finally, however, you are required as a bodhisattva to prevent other people from doing misdeeds that would hurt themselves or others. You have to stop others from collecting bad karma that will cause them suffering in the future.

4

CLASS NOTES Course XIV: Lojong, Developing the Good Heart Class Two, continued

Sooner or later you have to reach the point where you can give up the dearest things on a moment’s notice because it’s the right thing to do. This is reallyhard, but it’s beautiful and it’s perfect, and it’s the road to happiness. Don’t make anyconditions -- do it in every situation. Give awayeverygood thing that you have, even if the other person is being unjust or unreasonable or jealous of you, even if their motivations seem to be bad.

The first Chang-gya Rinpoche says in his commentary that you have to have two attitudes when you take the loss onto yourself. First, you must enjoy it, have a good time, and realize that this act is going to get you to a Buddha paradise. Secondly, don’t have any regrets either now or in the future. Whenever your mind questions what you’re doing, just say

“shut up.” Having regrets destroys the virtue collected by taking the loss yourself.

GANG LA DAK GI PEN TAKPAY

anybody to me by help they will

REWA CHEWA GANGSHIK GI

hopes great and they

SHINTU MIRIK NU-JE NA-ANG SHE-NYEN DAMPAR TAWAR SHOK

reallyunjustified harm spiritual friend highest see them as maIy

If I turn to another person with great hopes that they will help me, and they unjustly hurt me badly, may I see them as my highest spiritual friend, as my Lama.

An office job is a great place to learn the Dharma. Your coworkers are great teachers. The suffering we have in life teaches us the true nature of the kind of samsaric life we live in. The people who do you wrong are generously reminding you how your life in samsara is lousy and nothing but suffering. If a person still exists in your life who can irritate you, it’s a barometer of your own state of mind. It’s your fault, and you haven’t yet reached your Dharma goals.

DORNA NGU DANG GYUPA YI PEN - DE

MANAM

KUNLA BUL

in brief directlyand indirectlhyelp happiness mmyothers give it to them

MAYI NU DANG DUKNGEL KUN SANGWE DAK LA LENPAR SHOK

all of their bad deeds

and

suffering

all

secretlyme to

take it

mI ay

In brief, may I give help and happiness to all my mothers (all living beings) directly and indirectly; and may I take on to myself secretly all of their bad deeds and suffering.

Anytime someone is going to get hurt or someone is going to hurt somebodyelse, I want it to happen to me, and I’ll take it secretly– I won’t brag about it, I don’t care if anyone

5

knows about it, I won’t let anyone ever know that I did it. Every time I have a chance I will intercept someone else’s problem and make it happen to me instead, and theymaynever know it. Quietlyfix things for other people secretly. And then give them all the good things you can, and don’t let them know about it.

The word “indirectly” refers to the practice called tong-len where you visualize all the problems that are happening in places that you can’t affect directly. Then you visualize taking all those problems into you on your breath, and then you destroy them in one breath. You practice fantasizing about being able to destroyall the troubles of the world, taking all of them onto you. This is especially important to do when you are sick or at the moment of your death. Then your breath goes out like white light or nectar, and spreads to all beings and each atom of your breath brings happiness and all the things that everybody wants.

DEDAK KUNKYANG CHU GYE KYI

TOKPAY DRI-ME MABAK PAK

these

all of them ideas eight

practices

CHUNAM GYUMAR SHEPA YI SHENPAY CHINGWA LE DRUL SHOK

All these practices … [this eighth verse is covered in class three, below] The “eight ideas” are described in the commentaries as being either the eight worldly thoughts, or as being the eight ways of seeing things as being self-existent.

The Eight Worldly Thoughts

ꢎ%ꢇꢒꢂ&ꢋꢈꢂꢊꢁꢌꢂº'Úꢅ

JIKTEN CHU GYE The eight worldly thoughts. Diamond Lion says when you do

worldlythoughts eight the practices of developing a good heart, don’t pollute them with the following eight corrupted thoughts.

(ꢋÚꢂº)* ꢂꢔ+ꢄꢂꢈꢂÚꢒꢎꢅ

1. NYEKUR JUNG NA GA

Being happy if you get something, like a car or

something you get if be happy music, etc. It means an unreasonable happiness about some worldlything that will eventually collapse anyway and doesn’t merit getting all exited about. It doesn’t mean that you should feel guilty when something good comes to you, or that you shouldn’t rejoice over doing virtue which will certainlybring you happiness in the future.

6

ꢍꢂꢔ+ꢄꢂꢈꢂꢍꢇꢂÚꢒꢎꢅ

2. MA

JUNG NA MIGA

Being upset when you don’t get something. If

don’t you get it if get upset you’re practicing well, bad karma can start to ripen quicklyso don’t get upset when things go wrong.

ºÚꢋꢂºꢂꢔ+ꢄꢂꢈꢂÚꢒꢎꢅ

3. DEWA JUNG NA GA

Being happy if you feel good. A true Dharma

person reacts to others with joy and love, independent of how you feel at the time. happy

^fꢍêeꢂ^lꢔ^g+ꢄôoꢂꢈ^dꢂꢍ^yꢇꢂÚôuꢒꢎⁱꢅ^f

4. MA JUNG NA MI GA

Being unhappy if you don’t feel good. You

should do your bodhisattva deeds regardless of whether you are feeling cold or tired or sick, etc.

don’t you

if not happy

,ꢈꢂꢙ#ꢌꢂꢔ+ꢄꢂꢈꢂÚꢒꢎꢅ

5. NYENDRAK JUNG NA GA Being happy if you become well known. Karma is

you get famous you get if happy merciless and infallible. You never get anything good or bad that you didn’t create the cause for. So don’t get too exited about good or bad things that come to you. Just be pure from now on. Always do the right thing Dharmically.

ꢍꢂꢔ+ꢄꢂꢈꢂꢍꢇꢂÚꢎꢅ

6. MA

JUNG NA MI GA

Being unhappy if you are not well known, because

don’t you get it if not happy nobody knows you and nobody cares.

º-ꢁꢄꢂ ꢂꢔ+ꢄꢂꢈꢂÚꢒꢎꢅ

7. TURA JUNG NA GA

Being happy if you get praised. You often get

happypraised for thinogus ydon’t deserve and blamed for things you had nothing to do with.